2019 Losar Festival

2019 Losar Festival

2019 Losar Festival will be from February 5th to 7th. In ancient times when the peach tree would blossom, it was considered the start of a new year. Since the systematization of the Tibetan calendar in 1027 A.D. the first day of the first month is fixed as the beginning of the New Year. On New Year’s Day, families unite and ‘auspicious dipper’ is offered, and the words ‘Tashi Delek’ are used for people to greet one another. This day is an occasion when Tibetan families reunite to expect fortune in the coming New Year and is known as Losar. Losar festival starts from the 1st to the 3rd of the first Tibetan month. Doors are painted with religious symbols making tribute to family shrines. On New Year’s Eve, Tibetans eats barley crumbed food with their families. After dinner, it is the time of the Festival of Banishing Evil Sprits! Torches are lit and people run and yell to rid of evil spirits in their homes. Before the dawn of the New Year’s Day, housewives get their first bucket of water to prepare breakfast. After dressing up, people open their doors and go to monasteries. On the third day, the prayer flag, which was hung up the year before will be replaced with a new one. Other activities will be held during the events.

2019 February 3rd Arrive in Lhasa

Arrive in Lhasa airport, meet your guide, and then drive to your hotel. En route, we’ll visit to Nie-Tang Buddha, a Buddha image engraved in the face of the mountain. In the afternoon we’ll take a walk to Norbulingkar, the former summer palace of Dalai Lama.

2019 February 4th Lhasa

We’ll visit Potala Palace, Jokhang temple and Barkhor Street.Potala Palace , the winter palace of the Dalai Lama dominates the skyline of Lhassa atop the crest of Marpo Ri hill, the seventh-century Potala is considered Lhasa’s holiest destination for a pilgrimage. Going up the hill, a stone path leads to the 14-story, 1,000-room. Each day, thousands of pilgrims give the prayer wheels a clockwise spin as they make their way to the entrance.
The Jokhang Temple is the home of the statutes of the revered Buddha, Shakyamuni. While all Buddhist statues are adorned with colorful brocade, pearls, turquoise, coral, and silver, solid gold bowls of holy water rest before Shakyamuni as well as offerings of Yuan (money) and khatas (scarves) left by pilgrims.

2019 February 5th Lhasa: Tibetan New Year Day – The Losar Day

Today is the Tibetan New Year day, The Tibetan calendar starting from 1027.A.D. The first day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar is New Year’s Day. This is the grandest festival in Tibet. According to the custom of Tibetans of which praying at the first day of the year, almost all people gather to Jokhang Temple to pray for a new start in the year. In the afternoon, you can visit the Drepung monastery. This monastery once housed 10,000 monks and if we’re lucky, we’ll ease into a dark columned hall to see and hear the lilting, booming chanting of the Sutras or sit under a willow tree and watch as the monks engage in theatrical debate.

Drak Yerpa cave was built on a hillside with more than 80 meditation caves. Drak Yerpa is described as the “life tree” or spiritual axis of Lhasa. The site had a powerful spiritual heritage was visited by Songsten Gampo, Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsoygel, Padampa Sanggye, and Asisha. It was the home of some hermits, monks, and nuns. Tucci in 1949 describes it as follows: “Yerpa appeared suddenly before my eyes as a bend in the road, a cascade of small white buildings along steep, overgrown cliffs. You would think you weren’t in Tibet. Giant junipers and tufts of rhododendron topped a thick tangle of undergrowth, brushwood and grass victoriously fighting the hard barrenness of rocks. The cliffs were riddled with burrows and caves, some of which were so high up on an abrupt hill that it would have been risky to climb them.” For those with a particular interest in Tibetan Buddhism, Drak Yerpa hermitage is one of the holiest cave retreats in the Ü Region. Many ascetics have sojourned here and contributed to the area’s sanctity. The site is peaceful and has stunning views.

In the afternoon we will explore the Yamdrok Lake which is one of four holy lakes, the other three are Lhamo La-tso Lake, Namtso Lake and Manasarovar Lake. It is revered as a talisman and is said to be part of the life-spirit of the Tibetan nation. If the largest lake in southern Tibet were to dry, then Tibet would no longer be habitable. The lake has nine islands, of which one houses the famous Samding Monastery. This monastery is interesting, as is the only Tibetan monastery headed by a female re-incarnation. Since it is not a nunnery, its female abbot heads a community of about thirty monks.